Seo Kyung-duk, a professor at Sungshin Women's University, pushed back at Japanese media that criticized Korea's response to actor Ha Young's great-grandfather's pro-Japanese past as a "modern-day guilt-by-association system," asking, "Are you even qualified to make that criticism?"
On the 14th, Seo introduced the related reports by Japanese media on his Facebook page and said, "I want to ask whether Japanese media are qualified to make this kind of criticism."
Earlier, the conservative-leaning outlet JBpress argued in a column titled "Why does Korea not forgive the descendants of pro-Japanese collaborators?" that it is "extremely difficult to understand" that Ha Young is being criticized over the past conduct of a great-grandfather she has never even met in person.
Kamoshika Hiromi, a guest commentator at Fuji TV, also criticized in a separate column—on the grounds that Ha Young's TV appearances and advertisements were made private because of her great-grandfather's pro-Japanese conduct—calling it a "modern-day guilt-by-association system."
In response, Seo countered by raising Japan's historical issues. "Which country distorted the history of forced mobilization and had it inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list?" he said, citing the Sado mine issue.
He continued, "Has there been a sincere apology and compensation to the Japanese military 'comfort women' grandmothers?" adding, "The country that still makes absurd claims that the Republic of Korea's Dokdo is their territory is Japan."
Seo added, "I hope Japanese media first act with a correct view of history before criticizing other countries," and said, "Aren't you ashamed?"